‘We were blubbering like idiots’ – Saoirse Ronan on finally meeting Margot Robbie after being kept apart on Mary Queen of Scots set

Saoirse Ronan has spoken of the moment she finally met Margot Robbie on the set of Mary Queen of Scots having been kept apart from her co-star for much of the shoot.

Both Ronan (23) and Robbie (31) were nominated for Best Actress Oscars earlier this year for their roles in Lady Bird and I, Tonya and star opposite each other in the historical drama which releases in Ireland in January next year.

Saoirse Ronan plays the title role of Mary, Queen Of Scots in the forthcoming film Photo: Universal Pictures/PA

They were kept apart during filming with Saoirse filming and rehearsals in Scotland and Margot in England and share just one scene together in the film.

Ronan plays Mary Queen of Scots while Robbie plays her cousin Queen Elizabeth I and the film charts their friendship which evolves into bitter rivalry. The scene in which they meet is pivotal and Ronan said it reduced both actresses to tears.

Margot Robbie stars as Queen Elizabeth I (Parisa Tag/Focus Features)

“We really, really didn’t want to see each other,” Saoirse told entertainment Weekly. “I love Margot and wanted to hang out, but we wanted [the one scene] to be this special thing.”

Of their meeting she, said, “We were blubbering like idiots. We just held each other for ages, we wouldn’t let go. I’ve never experienced anything like that.”

While historians have argued that the two women never actually met, director Josie Rourke told EW that she was inspired by the 19th century Friedrich Schiller play Mary Stuart which includes a fictional scene with the two characters talking face-to-face.

“The whole conception of the film for me was around that meeting,” she said. “We really wanted to have our version of that famous scene, with these two women looking at each other and being confronted with their choices — their personal choices, their political choices. It’s a moment that’s deeply personal.”